Valentines 2025
the boy
Health and Exercise
The Boy and I have endeavored once again to get into shape. That’s such a relative thing, I’m not even really sure what that means for the two of us. For him, it means putting on some muscle and losing the last of his baby fat. The pediatrician told us for years not to worry about his baby rolls. He’ll stretch out we were assured. They’ll disappear, and by and large, they have.
For me, that means just maintaining. As I’m getting older, mysterious new ailments appear. Recently, for example, the fingertips of my left hand have started tingling every now and then. It’s usually on my arm is bent, and it usually goes away as soon as I straighten it out: some kind of nerve interruption. I’m not too terribly concerned about it, but I’ll definitely talk to my primary care physician about it when I see him later this year. And of course, I’ll make an appointment sooner if it worsens. I’ve been hoping that perhaps the swimming that I’ve been trying to do would make that better. It seems like there’s just something catching in my elbow that’s making this happen, and I thought that perhaps a bit of increased mobility would stretch things back out and get everything flowing correctly. But I swim, and it persists, and I worry about it a little.
It seems every year, some new little thing crops up. My knees started giving me fits last year, and I really had to stop running altogether because I couldn’t make it more than about a half a mile before everything started hurting. My vision while reading has done the predictable: I have surrendered and bought reading glasses.
All this I suppose is somewhat predictable, and I guess it will only get worse. But I can fight it, and a bit of exercise every day should help. But I’m under the illusion that I’ll ever get back to the shape that I was in 20 years ago, or even 10 years ago.
I do hope I can encourage the Boy to remember that what he’s creating for himself now, the body that he is making, will go away and eventually be replaced by something older slower, less agile. I regret not holding onto my health and fitness that I experience that I had in high school. I regret losing the health and fitness. I developed cycling so much in Poland. It’s gone, and it seems like it will never come back even in the slightest bit.
Sassafras Mountain
Polska 2011 Revisited
Friday Evening Walk
Heading Out for a Walk
The Boy and I headed out for a walk after dinner. We took the dog, we chatted about school, keyboards (as in computer keyboards -- a recent interest of the Boy's), district band tryouts (tomorrow evening), and random topics (as if that list weren't random enough). It was another of those "how many more times do we do this?" moments. The Girl didn't go with us because she had gone to her boyfriend's house to watch a movie with him.
Everyone's role slowly shifts.
Soccer Sunday
Walk
K and I went for a quick walk this afternoon around 2:30. We had to be back by 4:00 -- it was non-negotiable -- so we rushed to our favorite park to do a quick loop.
Why the rush home?
We had pierogi to make for one thing. We're still working on that. One hundred and sixty five today -- most of them frozen for quick dinners throughout the next few months. They're a good backup plan: when we are in a rush and just don't have the time to cook, we have pierogi.
But that wasn't the real reason for the rush home. The Boy had a friend coming to hangout, and she was scheduled to arrive at four.
Watching our children develop new interests has always been one of the most exciting -- and sometimes stressful -- elements of parenting.
End of Break Saturday
Today was the day everything went back to normal. The Christmas lights came down (though the tree is still up -- whatever K wants to do is fine with me in that regard). The Boy's 5v5 soccer season resumed: E's team won 4:3, with the Boy scoring the winning goal.
But some things were still holiday-esque: I made farsz for pierogi again. And this time, I remembered how much grease the sautéed mushrooms spit out as they go through the grinder.
"Do we a fartuszek of any kind I can use?" I asked K.
"But of course..."
2025 Day 1
We always like to begin the new year with something outside. Last year, we were at Hilton Head with Babcia; the year before, we were hiking somewhere -- can't remember the name. This year, with L still recovering (though she's mostly fine now) and the Boy feeling a bit reluctant, K and I went for a short walk at our favorite park, just the two of us. And the dog.
And a lot more people than usual. But can you blame them? A beautiful New Year's Day with temperatures in the mid fifties and a blue sky -- of course, you're going outside.
In the evening, we decided on a family movie -- a classic. Well, not quite. But the kids had never seen Titanic, and it's such a 90s film that both K and I have memories of and -- well, okay. There's no reason to watch that film except for the sinking scene.
The Boy watched about half an hour; we made it to the halfway mark. We'll finish it Friday or Saturday -- tomorrow is a sleepover for the Boy. We'll have a house filled with kids.
Boys. Twelve-year-olds...
